Reviews: Code Lyoko Evolution

I have been a Code Lyoko fan right after watching an episode, a few years ago. While the show had its flaw, it had a quite unique concept, good characters, and overall a really cool, enigmatic, creepy villain. This show was what restaured my interest for animation, and led me to learn about other new animated series. Like many fans, I was rather disappointed when it ends; I really thought the end was unsatisfying, and I was of those who supported a sequel. So naturally, when it was confirmed there would be one, I was excited. Even the choice to use Live action didn't scare me that much, as I thought it would be fine if the show was good. Hence, I actually gave the show a try. By the time I am writing this review, it has ended its first season, so I think I can start giving my opinion about it.

Well... I am disappointed.

Now, don't get me wrong, the show had some good points. The acting was cheap at first, but kept improving over the course of the show; Efforts were clearly made to have the actors look like their characters (well, the main cast at least; not so much with the supporting one...). The special effects were also quite good: the Factory, the Supercomputer, Lyoko and even Cortex look awesome.

Now, the problem is the writing. The show is FULL of Series Continuity Errors, more than I can stand (and being a Ben 10 Alien Force fan, I am usually fairly tolerant about that). The original show had many Sequel Hooks, such as the Carthage Projects and the MIB, but CLE uses none of them, instead inventing his own subplot which hardly fits in the series' continuity. The new villain, Professor Tyron, is horribly bland: we have no idea why he made his own Supercomputer in the first place, and the show doesn't bother explaining us this (in fact, even the Lyoko-Warriors seems remarquably uninterested about it). In addition to this, XANA suffers a severe case of Villain Decay; his attacks now range from nonsensical to pathetically harmless, a severe downgrade from his original series' nightmarish tactics. Then we have Laura, who is introduced only to be enventually fired, making her whole arc pointless.

Overall, Code Lyoko Evolution doesn't only fail to give any answer, it only raises more questions to the mix without answering them either. I still wish for a second season, but mostly to fix the mess they did in this one.

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